NOT APPLICABLE
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention comprises a precurved gusseted glove which provides a user""s hand(s) with an outer layer of protection which does not bunch together in the palm of the user. In one embodiment, the precurved gusseted glove is useful in weight training. The precurved gusseted glove has a gusseted side panel which precurves the glove to more naturally fit the curve of a human hand and eliminates the gathering of excess material in the palm of the hand.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Many types of gloves have been designed for a wide variety of sports and activities. For example, a safety glove for football players is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,649; a basketball training glove is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,312; and a water-skiing glove is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,831. As other examples, a bowling glove is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,680; a sports glove for racquetball is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,877; a golf glove is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,154,197; and a baseball glove is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 425,887.
With respect to weight-lifting, U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,651, issued to Gramsza et al., discloses a glove with an elastic wrist support strap. U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,321, issued to Walunga, discloses a glove with a detachable wrist support strap. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,384, issued to McCrane, discloses a glove with an inelastic wrist support strap. The Gramsza, Walunga and McCrane straps are constructed to encircle the wrist of a wearer in a shirt cuff fashion. Accordingly, the Gramsza, Walunga and McCrane gloves fail to keep the wearer""s wrist and hand in a natural curled position without requiring a bunching of the glove material in the palm portion of the user""s hand. Such bunching of glove material acts to prevent the wearer from acquiring a close and tight grip with an object such as a weight lifting bar.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a glove, adapted for use in weight lifting, whereby the wearer""s hand and wrist are kept in a natural curled position and which does not result in a bunching of glove material in the palm portion of the glove.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.
The present invention is a glove adapted to be disposed over an individual""s hand and wrist to thereby support the hand and wrist in a natural curled position when gripping an object. In particular, the glove includes a glove assembly having a palm side, a back side and an opening for receiving a hand of an individual; and at least one means for maintaining the glove assembly in a natural curled position, wherein the at least one means for maintaining the glove assembly in a natural curled position is disposed between the palm side and the back side of the glove assembly.
There are several embodiments of the glove of the present invention including a glove as described hereinabove further having a plurality of finger stalls and a thumb stall. In another embodiment the plurality of finger stalls and the thumb stall are open ended. In yet still another embodiment, glove of the present invention has a gusset which keeps the glove in a natural curled position.